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Home  »  Poetica Erotica  »  Love Athirst

T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.

Love Athirst

By Ruth Bassett Eddy
 
(From The Pagan, 1920)

LAST night, do you recall? You turned your head,
  And laid your lips to mine, as we lay there
Under the stars. The sweetness of the night
  Somehow became a part of that long kiss,
Until, grown weak with passion,        5
  You fell asleep. But I could not find rest.
The lips that clung to mine no longer gave
  A passionate response. They were
Soft and warm and still against my own,—
  The lips of a contented, sleepy child.        10
 
And oh, I was ashamed—ashamed to feel
  Desire to take from your unconscious lips
The drink love had to offer you and me.
  I would have been content to let the hours
Go on toward endless time, if I could lie        15
  Against your body’s close and yielding warmth;
Heart to heart and breath to breath,
  My mouth against your own until I knew
The sweet exhaustion that had given you sleep.